Principal Clinical/Counselling/Forensic Psychologist

Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust; Leeds; On-site; GBP 67,000 - 77,000; Part time

Job summary

Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust in Leeds is seeking a Principal Clinical/Counselling/Forensic Psychologist. This permanent, part-time post is 30 hours per week and based at the Acute Inpatient Services/PICU.

The role leads the development of a psychological care pathway across acute ward and PICU, delivering specialist assessment, formulation and interventions to high-risk service users. HCPC registration and doctoral level training are required, with supervision training and

Qualifications

• Doctoral level training in Clinical or Counselling Psychology (or equivalent prior to 1996) and HCPC registration.
• Formal supervision training for psychology professionals.
• Experience delivering psychological interventions in acute inpatient/ PICU settings.

Responsibilities

• Lead development, implementation and evaluation of a new psychological care pathway across acute ward and PICU.
• Provide specialist psychological assessment, formulation and interventions for high-risk and acutely ill service users.
• Support multidisciplinary teams with psychological perspectives for treatment and discharge planning.

Skills

Clinical psychology expertise

High-risk assessment

Interdisciplinary collaboration

Therapeutic interventions

Education

Doctoral level training in Clinical/Counselling Psychology

HCPC registration

Formal supervision training

Job description

Are you looking for mental health jobs in Leeds, York or with one of our regional services operating across the country? We have a range of NHS Job opportunities, placements and specialities in our clinical, research, and professional support teams across Leeds and York.

At Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (LYPFT), we strive to provide high-quality mental health and learning disability services as an employer of choice. We can only achieve this by putting our staff and the people using our services at the centre of everything we do. This starts with the people we employ. We recruit based on values and qualifications (where required) and believe lived experience is an advantage. We look for potential, not perfection, and this means that together, we are as diverse as the communities we care for.

Simply put, we seek out people who care, act with integrity and have the right skills. We want to add to our incredible colleagues, students and volunteers who share these principles, with people like you, who find empathy comes easily and who treat everyone with respect without thinking. Search our latest jobs to start your journey with us.

Principal Clinical/Counselling/Forensic Psychologist

8b

Main area Acute Inpatient Service/PICU Grade 8b Contract Permanent Hours Part time - 30 hours per week Job ref 173-25226-ACUTE-A

Site Acute Inpatient Services/Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) Town Leeds Salary £66,582 - £77,368 per annum, pro rata Salary period Yearly Closing 21/09/2026 23:59 Interview date 08/10/2026

Job overview

We are seeking an experienced and highly motivated Clinical, Counselling or Forensic psychologist to take up a newly created and pivotal role working across our Newsam inpatient ward and Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) working 30 hours per week.

This is an exciting opportunity to shape and lead the development of new psychological pathways within inpatient services where no previous post holder has been in place. The post holder will play a central role in embedding a psychologically informed approach to care, enhancing outcomes for individuals with complex and acute mental health needs.

The post holder will provide highly specialist psychological assessment, formulation, and intervention to service users within an acute inpatient ward and Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU).

Main duties of the job

Lead the development, implementation and evaluation of a new psychological care pathway across an acute ward and a PICU.

• To contribute to service development, quality improvement initiatives, and clinical governance ensuring high standards of care.
• Provide specialist psychological assessment, formulation and interventions for service users presenting with complex, high-risk and acute mental health difficulties within acute inpatient and PICU settings.
• Deliver a range of evidence-based interventions tailored to the needs of an inpatient population.
• Contribute to risk assessment and management working closely with the multidisciplinary team contributing to decision making in highly complex, high risk and uncertain clinical situations.
• Provide consultation, supervision and contribute to multidisciplinary care planning to provide psychological perspective to inform treatment and discharge planning.
• Contribute to the training and development of staff, promoting psychologically informed approaches across the service.
• To uphold equality, diversity and inclusion principles in all aspects of work.

To contribute to development across the acute service pathway as appropriate.

Working for our organisation

The Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (LYPFT) is the main provider of Mental Health and Learning Disability services in Leeds. We also provide specialist inpatient services in York and some highly specialised services across the country. As a teaching trust with strong links to local universities, we are a centre of excellence for teaching, research and development.

There are many benefits of working for LYPFT including fantastic employee wellbeing support, 27 - 33 days annual leave, flexible working and remote working arrangements, the NHS Pension Scheme, coaching, support and opportunities for career development and training and education support alongside a range of exclusive discounts and payment schemes including for cars, extra leave days and more NHS Discount Offers.

We also have a bank department, offering variety of roles in nursing, allied health professions, healthcare support worker and administration clerical. Permanent employees are automatically added to bank.

Applicants should be aware that individuals requiring a visa to work in the UK, the Trust only provides sponsorship for registered healthcare practitioner roles(this does not include Healthcare Support Workers). This is an essential requirement, and the Trust is unable to offer you a role if you do not meet Trust requirements for sponsorship and Home Office requirements for a visa.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

We recruit people based on their values and qualifications (where required) and believe that their lived experience is an advantage, this means that together we are as diverse as the communities we care for. Simply put, when we employ caring people who act with integrity and have the right skills, we can give those with mental health challenges, learning disabilities and neurodiversity high-quality care and support to live fulfilling lives, and make our staff feel purposeful, happy and valued.

Attached to this advert is our candidates guide to values-based recruitment and supporting guidance on how to make a successful application.

If you require a reasonable adjustment, please contact the Recruitment Team or see the attached candidate guide to reasonable adjustments.

To find out more about the key responsibilities and the specific skills and experience you’ll need, look at the Job Description & Person Specification attachments under the Supporting Documents heading.

So that you’re even more equipped to make an informed decision to apply to us, you’ll need to take time to read the Candidate Guide to Values Based Recruitment. This document provides you with information to help you apply.

Person specification

Qualifications

• Doctoral level training in Clinical or Counselling Psychology (or equivalent prior to 1996) and HCPC registration OR Doctorate level training in Forensic Psychology with HCPC registration as a Practitioner Psychologist
• Formal training in the supervision of other psychological professionals

Skills

• Additional post qualification training evidencing the ability to formulate and deliver interventions using at least 2 different therapeutic models. This can include specialist training in neurodivergence or neuro- assessment.

Experience

• Significant post qualification experience in acute/urgent care clinical settings with people with high levels of acuity and risk, including complex assessment (including risk), formulation and interventions.

Knowledge

• Ability to offer psychological consultation to other professionals and non-professionals evidencing clinical leadership.

Values

• Tell us about a time when you spotted something small going wrong and did something to stop it becoming a bigger issue.
• Tell us about a time when you realised a colleague or someone you know needed a bit of support and you offered to help.
• Tell us about a time when you showed someone kindness or understanding.

Applications are welcomed from candidates who wish to apply for a position based on a smarter (Hybrid) or flexible working arrangement. Where candidates are successful at interview, flexible working arrangement requests will be taken into consideration and may be accommodated where the needs of the service allow.

Fixed Term Contracts for existing NHS Employees – temporary contracts for employees of LYPFT, or colleagues joining from another NHS Trust, will be offered on a secondment basis wherever possible. In the event this is not possible, an FTC would be issued and this would require a break in service of two weeks.

The purpose of a temporary is role could be for maternity cover, temporary funding or some other reason. At the end of which the need for the temporary work will cease. Temporary roles can stop, be extended and/or made permanent at any point during the period of work. Should the role become permanent then the post-holder will be informed of the process to be followed to convert the position to a permanent one.

All new employees are required to subscribe to the DBS Update Service.

Patient Safety is a priority at LYPFT with a focus on system-based improvement and creating opportunities for learning. We will ensure compassionate engagement with all those involved in an incident and all incidents are met with a proportionate response. LYPFT is committed to upholding its’ statutory responsibilities in relation to safeguarding adults and children. Please refer to job description for further information.

LYPFT is a member of the Disability Confident scheme and is committed to providing a fully inclusive and accessible recruitment process.

As part of the Trust's commitment to its Gold Standard Armed Forces Covenant status, members of the Armed Forces Community are entitled to a guaranteed interview subject to meeting the role criteria.

We welcome applicants with lived experience of providing unpaid care and/or support to a family member or friend with a disability, health condition, frailty, mental health problem, addiction or other health needs.

Please note that the Trust reserves the right to close the vacancy before the closing date if enough applications are received. It is in the candidate’s best interest to apply as soon as possible. In submitting an application form, you authorize Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust to confirm any previous NHS service details via the ESR IAT process should you be appointed to the post.

In applying for a role please ensure that you only declare qualifications that are relevant to the role itself. We reserve the right to check all declared qualifications on an application form, whether they are directly relevant to the role or not.

Please note: The Trust does not offer reimbursement of interview expenses.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Name Fiona Lowis Job title . Email address [e-mail] Telephone number 07866217224 Additional information

Informal enquiries and/or to arrange a visit to the wards, please contact Dr Fiona Lowis 07866217224

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